During this visit, you should work with one or more groups of students if you haven't already, and observe your teacher doing the same. For this journal entry, describe your teacher's teaching style. What type of relationships with students does he or she nurture in his or her classes? How do students perceive that power is distributed in the classes? Does this vary within or across the different classes the teacher has? Cite examples from your observations to support your inferences. Remember to reflect on what style of teaching you will gravitate toward and the how you want to be perceived by your students.
My middle school CT’s teaching style, for the most part, is very laid-back and easy going. The students know what is expected of them, and they do what they are supposed to do (most of the time). You can tell that the students are very comfortable sharing in his classroom. When he asks a question, almost all students raise their hands and are eager to attempt to answer. They are also comfortable in approaching him to engage in casual conversation about their day, their pets, their favorite songs, their favorite sports teams etc. When working in groups, he casually strolls around the room to answer question or to ask probing questions to get the groups thinking about the task at hand.
Despite this friendly relationship he seems to have with the students, it is clear that he still has control over the classroom. They respond quickly when he asks them to quiet down and if he actually gets upset and raises his voice, the room stops altogether and everyone gets back on task. Although some of his classes are more easily distracted than others, he is consistent with how he deals with disruptions throughout each of his classes.
This is a hard observation/reflection to write about. My middle school CT makes everything look effortless. His easy laid-back style is something that I would love to emulate in my classroom. However, I have no idea how he cultivates this balance of friendliness and authority. I wish I could have seen how he begins the year off with new students. I’m sure that much of the control over the class has to do with routines and consistency. It would be interesting to see how he establishes this at the beginning of the year. I will be sure to talk about this with him as I spend more time in his classroom. I think I can learn a lot from him about how to reproduce this environment in my own classroom.
Such as astute observer! Your CT is "laid back" yet authoritative. How??? Hint #1: It probably has to begin as an act. There are too many things happening in the classroom at one time for a beginner to be truly relaxed. Hint #2: Students have to see the teacher as authoritative at his or her core, not be be crossed lightly.
My middle school CT’s teaching style, for the most part, is very laid-back and easy going. The students know what is expected of them, and they do what they are supposed to do (most of the time). You can tell that the students are very comfortable sharing in his classroom. When he asks a question, almost all students raise their hands and are eager to attempt to answer. They are also comfortable in approaching him to engage in casual conversation about their day, their pets, their favorite songs, their favorite sports teams etc. When working in groups, he casually strolls around the room to answer question or to ask probing questions to get the groups thinking about the task at hand.
Despite this friendly relationship he seems to have with the students, it is clear that he still has control over the classroom. They respond quickly when he asks them to quiet down and if he actually gets upset and raises his voice, the room stops altogether and everyone gets back on task. Although some of his classes are more easily distracted than others, he is consistent with how he deals with disruptions throughout each of his classes.
This is a hard observation/reflection to write about. My middle school CT makes everything look effortless. His easy laid-back style is something that I would love to emulate in my classroom. However, I have no idea how he cultivates this balance of friendliness and authority. I wish I could have seen how he begins the year off with new students. I’m sure that much of the control over the class has to do with routines and consistency. It would be interesting to see how he establishes this at the beginning of the year. I will be sure to talk about this with him as I spend more time in his classroom. I think I can learn a lot from him about how to reproduce this environment in my own classroom.
Such as astute observer! Your CT is "laid back" yet authoritative. How??? Hint #1: It probably has to begin as an act. There are too many things happening in the classroom at one time for a beginner to be truly relaxed. Hint #2: Students have to see the teacher as authoritative at his or her core, not be be crossed lightly.